St. Louis Blues Pros And Cons From Preseason Game 1 Vs. Dallas

The St. Louis Blues took on the Dallas Stars on the road in their first preseason game of 2018. There was plenty to like, but you could tell it was the first preseason game of the year.

The St. Louis Blues were primed, after some solid practices, to get on the ice and see a different team across the way. Their fans were ready for some on-ice action as well.

Unfortunately for the fans, there was no television coverage at all. That is a big con as far as I am concerned, since you would think you could at least have a single-camera stream available. Nobody needs fancy replays and closeups, but we would like to be able to watch the game in today’s day and age.

With that in mind, the pros and cons are clearly based on the mental pictures painted by the Blues radio crew. From everything heard, while it was great to have the Blues back on the ice, you could tell that it was the very first game of the season.

Cons: Giving Up First Goal

It’s the first game against an opponent not wearing the Blue Note and a relatively meaningless game in the grand scope. That said, you would rather not allow the first goal of any game.

St. Louis had a decent first period, keeping the Stars off the board. It did not take Dallas too long in the second to strike, with the Stars putting in a rebound goal a little over four minutes into the game.

Again, it’s preseason. You don’t have your opening night lineup out there or your starting goaltender. Still, you’d rather not open the year with a goal against.

Pros: Kyrou Scores

It is getting harder and harder not to really buy-in on Jordan Kyrou. We keep trying to tell ourselves that he’s likely to start the year in San Antonio and we should just let things play out in their natural course.

He’s making it difficult to do that. Kyrou looked really good in the scrimmages the Blues had prior to playing in Dallas. He got off to a good start in an actual game as well.

Kyrou was frequently mentioned, getting some good scoring chances and putting a total of seven shots on goal – leading all Blues players. His effort was rewarded with a breakaway goal for the first score of the night for the good guys.

While I am personally upset that Kyrou is not wearing 25, as he had in juniors, he’s really impressing in the early going. If he keeps up this pace, he will make the coaches’ decision very difficult (or very easy, depending on your viewpoint).

Cons: Blues Goalie’s Rebound Control

It’s hard to get a true feel of this one since the game was not televise, but it sounded like there were far too many rebounds given up. As someone that normally supports goaltenders until the very end, it is frustrating to find fault with them.

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It just sounded, from the radio crew, like these were preventable goals if you have goalies at the peak of their talents. Since it’s the first game of the year and you’re playing your NHL and AHL backups, these things can be expected.

Even so, you’d like some crisper saves. Goaltending is all about habits and you don’t want your guys to be in the habit of giving up juicy rebounds.

The fact that Jordan Binnington’s night was less than stellar did not help the overall mood about the ‘tendy’s.

Pros: Joey Laleggia

Joey Laleggia won’t make most people’s highlight reel, but he was a solid player in the first preseason game. He was good at moving the puck on the team’s second power play unit.

Laleggia was only credited with one shot on goal, but he was finding his targets, be that passes or shots, for most of the night. He also picked up two hits and two blocks – tying for the team lead in the hit category.

Just as important, Laleggia picked up assists on two of the team’s goals. His zone exit helped set up Kyrou’s breakout and then he added a helper on Dmitrij Jaskin‘s deflection.

Laleggia might not, in fact probably won’t, make the team out of camp. If that is a hint of what he can help with, however, he could see a few callups during the year.

Cons: Continually Missing Nets

This one is a carryover from the last couple seasons and a personal pet peeve. Colton Parayko and several others keep shooting wide.

I understand that you’re trying to pick out minuscule spots with big goaltenders in net, but just put it on net. Wasting time scrambling after loose pucks as they careen hard off the boards is frustrating.

Nobody hits the net all the time, but if there was an award given out for missed shots, the Blues would likely take it the past few years. The fact it continued in this game is not a welcome sign.

Pros: Pat Maroon

The man they called Patty on the broadcast – a name I hate by the way – was certainly juiced up for this one. Pat Maroon came to play and seemed like he was in midseason form.

Maroon was mixing it up almost from the drop of the first puck. He was throwing his weight around, mixing it up with his opponents and even giving them the stinky facewash – in a preseason game, no less.

Maroon also managed to score what was then the go-ahead goal on the power play. It was a very solid start to his Blues career.

If Maroon can stay healthy, he’s going to help this team in immeasurable ways.

Overview

It sucks to lose the game, especially to a divisional rival. It also stinks to lose after having a lead.

However, this is a preseason game. You cannot get too caught up in final scores, but more how each goal happened.

The Blues have some things to clean up defensively and their goaltenders need some better puck control. But, for a first game, there was good jump from all involved and they just needed better execution all around. That will come with more practice time and more time to gel as a team.

For now, it’s just good to have the Blues back out there and playing games.